Excerpted from Rory Shiner and Peter Orr’s new introduction to Christianity, The World Next Door. (See Steve McAlpine’s review here)
It is almost impossible for us today to capture the strangeness of mentioning, let alone celebrating, the crucifixion of Jesus.
In the first century, “crucifixion” was not a metaphor. No one said, “Oh, man, I got crucified at work today”. In fact, Roman etiquette books reminded people to never mention crucifixion in polite company.
